Description

SU 86 NW WOKINGHAM GOODCHILD ROAD

1886/10/10010 Wescott Infant School

GV II

Alternatively known as: SCHOOL ROAD (west side).
School, with two play-ground shelters. Opened 1906; later C20 alterations. By Edmund Fisher (London). Red brick in English bond with pebble-dash render; plain tile roof with corniced brick stacks. 1 storey with partial 2nd floor and cellar. H plan, having 4 parallel gabled ranges with transverse roof at centre, presenting 4 x 4-bay elevations. In Arts and Crafts style, having: plinth; wide corner pilasters with deep dentilled cornices; side-bays defined by quoined brick strips; half-glazed doors with glazing bars below fanlights with radial glazing bars; wooden windows with architraves and sashes of 12, 15, or 18 panes, and some large mullion-and-transom windows of paired or tripled sashes with 9-pane windows over; some oculi with radial glazing bars and keyed brick architraves; tile cill strings; moulded barge-boards; flat-roofed dormers with 2-light, 12-pane windows. Principal (south-east) elevation: outer bays each have 3 windows with oculus over and porch to inner return with entrance to return and small side-window; inner bays have 3 windows, larger at centre, and at roof-crossing over each is a louvred wooden cupola with leaded dome and ball finial. 3 chimneys to right side, one to left side, and one between left-hand bays. Rear similar, the outer bays with cambered brick arches to ground-floor windows, the left bay masked by flat-roofed single-storey addition, and with Ipswich window to gable. At centre, narrow window below gabled tile-hung bellcote on shaped wooden brackets with small bell. Returns each have two central gabled bays with larger, transomed, windows flanked by narrow windows. Interior: light and airy. At the centre, there were originally movable partitions to allow use either as class-room or as a larger hall (now used as dining hall). Many of the original fittings remain, including part-glazed doors; part-glazed partitions in central area; parquet floors; class-room cupboards (some doors removed) and wall-mounted black-boards with side-cupboards; old radiators; dog-leg stair up to 2nd-floor room; fireplace with decorative metal grate in this room and to present staff-room. In playground to rear are two contemporary shelters: red brick in Flemish bond with 1940s pink-brick sections at sides of front wall; mono-pitch roofs with corrugated sheeting. Each 1 storey, 6 bays. Open-fronted having timber posts on chamfered padstones and arch braces to wall-plate. Inside each is a bracketed wooden bench along rear wall. A well-designed and executed early-C20 school in the Arts and Crafts style.

Listing NGR: SU8163368570

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26413083

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Derbyshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Huddersfield in 50 Buildings
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  Nottinghamshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Herefordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Worcestershire Revised Edition (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability